In a typical conventional storage area network, one or more storage arrays having very large amounts of data storage capacity are connected through connectivity devices, such as switches, to host computer systems that operate as servers of data to client computer systems that request the data from the storage arrays. The storage area network is thus a network that interconnects host, connectivity and storage elements in a storage environment and ensures fault-free and timely access to the data for client users via the host servers. Such a storage area network employs a conventional storage area network management application to monitor and control (i.e., to manage) the host, connectivity and storage elements in the network. Management of the storage area network by the network management application allows optimal usage and throughput in the storage area network by identifying areas of contention, reporting malfunctions, providing access control, and allocating ports and data flow paths between the host and storage devices in the storage area network.
The conventional network management application employs software components executing on, within, or in conjunction with the various manageable elements in the storage environment to effect management of these elements within the storage area network. Typically, a repository such as a database operates in conjunction with the network management application in order to map the manageable elements (e.g., host, storage devices, switches, and software processes) that comprise the storage area network environment into data structures that the network management application may employ to manage the network elements. The repository typically includes respective element definitions for each manageable entity in the storage area network. Each element definition in the repository includes or defines information such as types and attributes (characteristics) and associated attribute values of the element, relationships between that element and other elements, as well as topology, diagnostic, and historical data concerning that storage area network element, or manageable entity, as it operates within the storage area network.
The management application therefore, monitors and controls each of the storage are network elements, or manageable entities, in the storage area network by storing the type and attribute information of the various manageable entities. In a large SAN, there may be many deployable manageable entities of various types, each having type and attribute information. Developing and maintaining the conventional management application to store, manipulate, and report on the various types and attributes of the multitude of manageable entities presents a formidable endeavor, since the conventional manageable entities encompass different types having different sets of attributes, and may even be from different vendors.